Header pic

Friday, 29 March 2013

Brrrrrrr it's been a cold one over here at Sewing by Annie's. Not many of my customers have ventured out in the snow so it has allowed me two wonderful days with the twinny munchkins and an evening on Tuesday when we had all 5 of the grandchildren here together. They give us so much to smile about.

Week 10's smiles were just brilliant....everything from cat's loosing their heads in bags or eating broccoli to dressed up scissors doing an impersonation of Jo and I :-)

Thanks to all who joined in the fun and linked up to share their smiles with others.

My smiley pics this week are.....

The Chicken pox den Amy's three built under the stairs in their hall. Thankfully Phoebe, although covered in spots, coped very well with her chicken pox and is now revovering well. I guess it's only time til the other two get it though.

Do you think Louise should go into fashion designing? Here she is playing dressing up. :-)

There seems to be many boxes around in our house at the mo and I think Lexi was just making sure she didn't get left behind when we move. :-)

I hope you have enjoyed my smiles for this week and will find a few of your own to share with us. Please try.

Just take a snap or two during the week and link them up below so that others can share your smile.

Wednesday, 27 March 2013

Here we are at another snooping, nosey fun day. Wednesdays are my favourite day of the week when we can all share our crafty spaces and show our friends what we have been up to in the previous week. This week has been one of snow snow and yet more snow for us.....will share a pic later with you :-)

On my desk today is....

As you can see I have rather a lot of knitting needles
[including 6 pairs of two of the sizes!!!!! Why??? ]
and their old holder just wasn't big enough to hold them all and they kept falling out so this week I have made a new holder for them.....easier to pack away when we move I thought :-)

[colour not quite right in this pic!]

I also have many circular needles and extras that didn't fit in the needle holder so I made a little velcro fastened bag for those to go in and I made this so that......

.....when the needle bag is folded up the little bag will fasten around the outside and hold them all together....clever eh?

I've also been listening to the cries of some of my little teddies to do a very important job and here are some of the ones that shouted the loudest before they were bagged up and sent on their travels.....they are leaving today so you will prob hear more about them when they arrive at their destination :-)

The other pic I am sharing today is one of our gravity defying snow....Can you see how it has slid down the roof of our shed and is now about 18" hanging down over the edge? You can see where a chunk has already fallen off but the piece on the left really is defying gravity and is hanging on even still....this pic was taken on Monday !! We had about 8" of snow on Saturday morning.....and that made our little dogs struggle somewhat to go out for a pee as their legs are only about 8" long!!!

That's about it from me for today. Please leave me a little hello comment and I will do my best to pay you a return visit later on today cos I have an extra day with my little twinny munchkins today......thankfully now much better and so is their cousin Phoebe.....and as yet neither Louise or Steve has caught the chicken pox off their sister.

The winner of the scrabble tiles was...........

.......will tell you when they have received them as they are leaving today for their new home :-)

Friday, 22 March 2013

Can you believe you have all been joining in this fun for 10 weeks now.....Oh I know you don't all join in every week but I do love it when you do...... thank you all lots for your efforts.

The world really is a much happier place when we all share our smiles and happy times.

I loved all that you blogged about last week and had many a chuckle thanks to my blogging friends. I know some of you just call by to check out the happy posts....I'm sure we all need a giggle from time to time and how lovely that they know to come here to be cheered up. :-)

My featured blog from last week is Di's of Pixie's Crafty Workshop.....do pop over to see her little friend enjoying a sauna....it certainly made me chuckle. It was Di's first time to join in the fun so welcome and thanks for joining in the fun. If you would like to check out the others please follow the links on my last week's smiley post.

This week I have a picture to share with you with very mixed emotions. The twins have had a sickness bug off and on all week. Lexi started with it first and a couple of days ago Sam started with it. :-( Shell has sent me several photos of the pair of them looking washed out and miserable but this one made me giggle....I hasten to add it wasn't Sam's little face that made me smile but Lexi and the text that came with the pic.

Sam's world ends

Disaster strikes!!!! Sams world has ended! Ted ted got covered in sick!!!! Put
him on the fastest wash we've got! However his sister who is better wants to
torture him by pointing into washer and telling him its in there! This is going
to be along 30 mins!!!!

I know some of you out there will think I'm rather cruel in giggling but I know there will also be others who find it rather funny too. Poor little man....I do hope he feels much better very quickly.

I also hope Amy's eldest daughter Phoebe feels much better very soon cos guess what?......she has chicken pox [and it didn't help when Louise went running around the house pretending to be a chicken when Amy told them what it was !! :-) ] !!! I'm guessing Louise and Steve will follow on soon too so please send all the get well wishes you can their way........Thanks friends xxxx

Please try to find a picture of something that has made you smile this week to share with us and link it below before you leave me a little comment to say you've called in.

There has been very little crafty play going on for me this week but there has been lots more sorting and finding lost treasures. We took 4 more car loads to the tip at the weekend and boxed up and sorted even more :-)

Yes there you go now you know I really was a serious cross stitcher....I used to go into the local school and teach the children there too :-)

I found this little treasure too :-)

It has caused a few giggles so thought you might like to see it. How much fun do you have at your dinner table then?

Another confession....

I used to work with a magician :-)

[please don't imagine for one minute though that I wore a sparkly leotard!!!]

These are the letter tiles from an old game of scrabble.....I am a hoarder and just can't throw anything away and I just know many of you card makers would use these.

So............

If you would like them just leave me a comment to say so......but I would also like you to tell me what the strangest thing is that you keep 'just in case' in your comment. I will draw a name out and the winner can have them.

I hope you have enjoyed your visit this week. I will do my best to pay you a return visit if you leave me a comment. Thanks for calling by.

Monday, 18 March 2013

We have had another weekend of sorting and clearing out. The attic is nearly empty.....wahooooo We have bags and boxes filled and labelled....

Charity Shop

Tip....we did three more journeys to the tip with our car packed to the roof over the weekend.....what a lot of rubbish you save, just in case, over 65 year and it wouldn't be so bad if it was just ours.

Sale room

Ebay....thanks for the advise about the knitting machine girls ....it's now on ebay with all the wool and a few other things we thought might sell.

Take with us....oh yes there are a few bits we are taking to our new home :-)

We have been to look at another bungalow....it's where we want, the size we want and yes girls it has a room for my sewing :-) We just need to sell our house before it sells so keep everything crossed for us please.

What I did want to share with you this morning is that while we have been packing over the weekend my darling hubby set up the old record player that we had put up in the attic and we have been playing our records from back in the 70s. The sound was like nothing you ever get from a CD and I have to say we shared so many wonderful memories.

I wonder how many of you had one of these? :-)

And just to take a few of you back with us here is the list of our very varied selection of music...

Friday, 15 March 2013

Here we are at another Friday post when I find you a pic or two of what has made me smile hoping that it spreads a little happiness around my blogging friends. Please join in by snapping the things that makes you smile at any point during the week and linking them below before leaving me a little comment.

There were more newbies that joined in again this week so welcome to you all. The smiles are definitely contagious :-) The blog I am featuring this week is that of Neet who shared lots of fab pics with us but I have to say the last one was the one that cracked me up so thank you Neet for sharing those and thanks to the gent concerned for allowing it to be shared :-)

This week has been no exception for me and as always I have a few pics I'd like to share with you...

This pic is one of Sam in the new t shirt his mummy appliqued George pig on the front. He loved it so much that he spent the day taking off his jumper just so he could see it :-)

This pic came with this text message....

'I swear she is going to be on the stage! I just tucked her down for her nap, took Sam into his room and came back to Lexi to start her lullaby toy and this what I saw! I couldn't stop laughing!!!!!!! She was going "Oh yeah" like I was the other day when we were playing with the glasses!!!!! She cracks me up'

What a little poppet our little Lexi is eh?

The last pic I'm sharing with your today is of the pic the twins gave me for Mother's day. Lexi carried it in in one hand and in the other she carried a bunch of daffs....what more could a Nanny Annie want?

I hope you have enjoyed this weeks smiles and find something that has made you smile to join in the fun. Please link up below before you leave me a comment. Thanks for calling by.

Thursday, 14 March 2013

I have a brother knitting machine and ribber with several bin bags full of cones of wool. Is there anyone out there that could use it? I used to knit my children jumpers with it when they were little and designed all sorts to go on the fronts of them. I neither have the time or space to use it now. It is too good to throw away and they go for next to nothing on ebay. It would be nice to think that someone would make good use of it all even if only to knit up the wool for use by a charity.

Wednesday, 13 March 2013

Here we are at another Wednesday and I have found more hidden treasures and have another confession to make......

I was once a bobbin lace maker.....and here is the proof.

There is a completed butterfly body underneath the cloth and it has been left half way through making one of the wings.....only problem is it has got all twisted and knotted up and I can't remember how to get going again. I can see hours of sorting going on here.

My other lace cushion had a lace mat in the making but this is how I have found my bobbins! I have had to cut these loose and think the only way to solve this one is to undo them and start again.

Several hours later and I have cut free and removed the thread from all 112 bobbins. Don't you just love all those fab beads?

Some of the bobbins are just run of the mill ones but some of them are engraved and are made of the most tactile wood and have come back out like old friends.....here are a few of my favourites. One has our wedding date on it and two have our daughters births on them.....Yes I did bobbin lace when my two girls were babies and before their brother was born!!!!!

When? How?....answers on a post card please :-)

The other thing Jo and I have been doing this week is to sort out boxes of old photos and here are some of my favourites...

Don't you just love old black and white photos?.....I know I do.

The other thing I wanted to show you this week is this....

Living opposite the church as I do [at the mo] I see all sorts of coming and going and this week I was treated to this gorgeous funeral carriage. I didn't know the gentleman that had died but what a way to go eh?

I hope you have enjoyed calling by today. If you leave me a little hello comment I will do my best to pay you a return visit....but if I fail please forgive me cos my every waking hour is spent with sorting, clearing out and getting ready for moving house.....when we get a buyer. [The viewing we had on Saturday went very well and the young couple really loved our house and plan to put an offer in when they have sold theirs. :-) ].

Friday, 8 March 2013

There were yet more new faces sharing pics of what made them smile this week and I would like to thank each and every one of you for joining in the fun. Today I am featuring one from over seas.....

Cardarian posted some pics of Mr and Mrs Straw that she met whilst out visiting her Mum. They were most obliguing when it came to posing for photos and they certainly made me smile so please pop over to her blog for a look. Thanks Cardarian for joining in the fun this week.

My smiley pics today are....

One of Steve......he is built like a little rugby player but as you can see here really does have a soft spot for his teddies [ or rather his Mummy's teddies!]. Out of Amy's three it's Steve that cuddles the teddies and I have a feeling this one will be one for his album when he's 18!

This pic is of twin sharing :-) At breakfast time Shell had given them some grapes and blueberries each. Sam liked the grapes best and not the blueberries. Lexi liked the blueberries best and not the grapes. When they had eaten the ones they liked they then traded with the ones they didn't like so much and swapped. :-) They are such funny little munchkins.

I hope my pics have made you smile today and you will snap your own pics to share to spread a little happiness with others. Please link them below and don't forget to leave me a little hello comment so I know you've called by.

Wednesday, 6 March 2013

Hello to all my blogging friends. Here we are on another Wednesday exposing our spaces to the world. This week my craft room has been revealing a few hidden treasures that are now spread out on the ironing board so I can share them with you.

I have a guilty secret and I feel I now know you all well enough to be honest and own up......

My name is Annie and I was, in a former life, a x stitcher and embroiderer....Oh there you go now I have said it!!

There are other secrets that I may share with you at another time depending on how you react to this one :-)

I have been having a good sort out and have found some of my hidden treasures....Can anyone tell me why they were never framed?....answers on a postcard please :-)

I just know some of you will want a closer look so I have collaged them so you can enlarge for a good snoop browse at your leisure.

There are hours of work here and they were all rolled up together and hidden in a cooking foil box!

The one in the top left with the paving slabs on has literally 1000s of french knots making up the details....did I really have that much spare time on my hands ? You can see one of them is dated 1996 and I would have had a 12 yr old daughter , an 11 year old daughter and a 9 year old son back then so were there more hours in my days? How did I do it? and why oh why were they never framed up?.....and this really is just the tip of the iceberg folks :-)

I have also found this shoe box crammed full of little cross stitch kits, some of which came on the front of magazines.....and yes folks I probably still have all the magazines too!!

Does anyone have any suggestions as to what I can do with them all.....I wont be doing the x stitching now and they should go to good homes don't you think?

There you go. I feel so much better now I've confessed.

My latest LillyBo quilt and bag are also finished but I am still knitting a little friend to go in the pocket so pop back later in the week if you'd like to see it all. I will do my best to pop to see as many blogs as I can in between my sewing jobs later but would like to say thank you to all who call by here to leave such lovely comments.

Don't forget to link up your happy posts here to share with others and make the world a happier place to live.

Friday, 1 March 2013

I was so thrilled to see several new folk joining in the fun this week so a big welcome to you all and thank you for joining in the fun. There were so many fab smiles being shared by you all.

I am featuring Julia's blog this week. She is being super organised and is winding her ribbons onto dolly pegs.....well that is the plan. :-) I really do feel she needs to add little faces to the pegs to give them characters...what do you think?

My happy pics this week were taken last week cos this week my little munchkins don't have a lot to smile about as they have chicken pox for the second time in just a month!!!! ....

A collage of a fun day when the twins joined their cousins for a lunch date. They all love playing together so much. Click on the pic if you want a closer peep......and of course while the twins were with their cousins they probably shared more with them than they knew at the time!!!

This is a snap of the twins using their new table and chairs.

Mummy being a teacher......lesson one was drawing, closely followed by jigsaws and house building with their duplo :-) They are growing up so quickly.

Hope you have enjoyed my smiley pics for this week and will snap a few of your own to join in the fun. Just put them on your blog any time during the week and link up here so they can be shared.

WOYWW

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About Me

I am a mother of 3, nanny to 3 beautiful granddaughters and 3 gorgeous grandsons and lived in a little village in Shropshire until August 2014 when we moved to a little bungalow in Shrewsbury and nearer to our gorgeous family. Although a nurse and midwife by trade, after a career break to bring up my children and 16 years of child minding [my own 3 and 35 extra little darlings] I have retrained as a tailoress and now run a very successful sewing business from home.

You've been warned

Brilliant quote for life

There comes a time in life when you have to let go of all the pointless drama and the people who create it, and surround yourself with people who make you laugh so hard you forget the bad, and focus solely on the good. After all, life is too short to be anything but happy